He Said, She Said: The Meaning Behind ‘That’s What She Said’

Since I’ve hopped aboard the Facebook train, I have come across bumper stickers and flairs that state, “That’s what she said.” I was hip enough to know the pop culture reasoning behind, “I’m on a boat,” which also appears on multiple Facebook applications. (It’s from a recent SNL sketch.)

But, “That’s what she said,” always stumped me. So, I decided to go on the glorious device that is Google.

My search led me to “The Office,” which apparently popularized the phrase. However, others say the phrase has been around before that, possibly since the movie, “Wayne’s World” (1992), or earlier.

Urbandictionary.com defines the catchphrase as a term that “turns a non-sex related topic into one of that kind … usually referring to what a female might have said during the ‘act.'”

Here’s a video with examples from almost all of “The Office” scenes, which made use of the dialogue: